Antique Sideboard in Painted Elm, China, 1900

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This antique painted sideboard in elm wood is a Chinese two-door cabinet with a painted landscape and ring pulls. It … Read more This antique painted sideboard in elm wood is a Chinese two-door cabinet with a painted landscape and ring pulls. It originates from northern China, from the Qing dynasty, where elm was coated in pale lacquer to receive painted decoration.Sideboards of this proportion stood against the wall of the main room and held tableware, household linen and everyday objects. The painted front had a social function: it was the face the visitor saw.The body is solid elm with mortise-and-tenon joinery. Two framed panel doors open onto an interior with a full-width shelf. Four straight legs of square section carry the case and the apron is finished with a plain moulding.Over the cream ground, the doors carry a shan-shui landscape painted with a loose brush: a red-roofed pagoda among groves, willows in green ink and hills fading at the back. The mouldings are outlined in turquoise green. The composition is landscape in intent rather than narrative, and lets the pale ground breathe.The pale lacquer has worn unevenly and exposes the wood at the edges and in the areas of contact. The landscape has lost intensity, which heightens its atmospheric character. The surface reads authentic, with no repaint to mask it.Its sideboard height and painted front make it a piece for an entrance hall, a dining room or a long corridor. It works in contemporary and rustic interiors, where it brings aged colour without crowding.DetailsRef.: AM34023Dimensions: Length 166 cm – Width 40 cm – Height 83 cmStyle: Painted ChineseMaterials and techniques: Elm wood; brass hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery; pale lacquer and hand-painted decoration.Place of origin: ChinaPeriod: Qing dynastyDate of manufacture: Circa 1900Condition: Good. Original lacquer and paint with uneven wear and wood exposed at the edges. Wear consistent with age and use. See less